"Steady!" exclaimed the colonel. "Keep your fire! Here they come!"
They made a brilliant show with their shining breastplates and helmets and nodding plumes as, holding their sabres ready, they thundered down on us.
"Fire!"
Steady as rocks, the Honveds kept their ground; the rifles blazed out; the hussars were checked.
No! Here they were amongst us, cutting and slashing; and foremost of them all rode Von Theyer.
A superb rider and a fine swordsman, he was the beau ideal of a cavalry leader, and handled his men splendidly.
As if I were the special object of attack, he rode straight at me, and crying, "Remember Vienna!" struck furiously with his sword.
With difficulty I parried that blow and several others; but Von Theyer stuck to his work, and the glittering steel flashed incessantly about my head.
I was kept far too busy to see how the fight went elsewhere, but every now and then I heard Rakoczy's cheery voice, and guessed that all was well.
Suddenly there rose a cry in German of "Back! back!" and Von Theyer, roused to a sense of his men's danger, reluctantly drew off.